Heating up the pastrami could be tricky because excess heat would burn up the pastrami and it won’t warm up on slow heat. So, it could be confusing for you to how to heat up pastrami or how to reheat pastrami when once it is done.
You might think that what are the best and quickest ways to heat or reheat pastrami meat. There are a lot of ways through which you can choose the best one to heat up your pastrami.
According to my experience, the best way of heating the pastrami is, steam it up, but this could require the most effort and time.
Pastrami is actually deli meat that is cooked in a series of five steps. The meat can be any type like beef brisket or round, lamb or turkey. Pastrami meat is mostly dried, smoked, seasoned, dried more, and then steamed whichever you prefer for your food.
How to heat up pastrami or how to reheat pastrami to make a sandwich. There are a few ways for heating and reheating the pastrami.
Table of Contents
The quickest way of how to heat up pastrami is the microwave oven. Cover the pastrami on a plate with a damp paper towel. Microwave for 1 – 2 mins.
This is considered one of the best ways if you have to reheat a few slices for sandwich pastrami. It is the fastest way, but it has certain flaws. Which are discussed below in detail.
Best Ways to Heat Pastrami Slices:
How to heat up pastrami or how to reheat pastrami? Here are four ways are given to heat up the cold pastrami slices. The quality of pastrami meat can make a difference in taste. Lower quality pastrami doesn’t work best in a microwave oven
For example:
- Steam
- Oven Bake
- Pan Fry
- Microwave
Try to keep the meat at room temperature before cooking. Bring meat out from the fridge and let it sit outside for a while. Then you can prepare the pastrami.
How is the steaming method for heating up pastrami?
How to heat up pastrami? Steaming pastrami is one of the best ways of heating up the pastrami. Steaming gives the meat an extra tenderness. This is actually the process of how some New York delis serve their pastrami.
There are a lot many ways of steaming the pastrami like on a stovetop or by using an Instant Pot. Instant Pot is a faster way, but it steams the water using pressure. So it will start boiling at a higher temperature.
There is one advantage of using an Instant Pot is, you have the keep warm feature.
This will keep extra pastrami slices warm for serving at a party later on or for throughout the day. You can use the Instant Pot like a slow cooker/warmer for better results.
Stove-Top:
How to heat up pastrami? One problem could be that, you might don’t have a steam basket. You can use aluminum foil as an alternative to elevating the meat. You can also wrap your pastrami in the foil and then drop it in the water.
As long as the meat isn’t touching the boiling water, it should be exposed to steam.
- You should use a smaller amount of water in a pan like 1 – 2 inches.
- You should place Pastrami inside the steam basket or foil.
- Then boil the water.
- Keep a constant lid on the pan while steaming.
There is no need for a hard boil. You should bring water to a simmer and let it heat for the remaining time.
A small serving will not take a long maximum of about 10 – 20 mins for a smaller serving. Maximum 20 – 30 minutes for larger ones until the meat becomes nice and hot. After that, it is ready to serve.
Instant Pot:
How to heat up pastrami through steaming? Steaming pastrami can be totally done in an Instant Pot or pressure cooker as long as it has a steam setting. To steam the pastrami in an instant pot what all you will have to do is, add some water in the pot then place the pastrami inside and turn on the steam.
This is the basics of how steaming is done. There is still some preparation required for the smooth processing of an instant pot. You don’t need the meat to be sitting in the water on the heat.
You should steam the meat on the bottom of the pot. Instant Pots have a trivet. The trivet that comes with the Instant Pot is very basic, it doesn’t contain any specific features. It’s just a simple metal rack with small legs.
what are trivets and how are they beneficial in cooking?
Trivets can be a lot better when you buy them solo from the market. The trivets with built-in handles are very beneficial. Their specific feature is that they allow you to remove whatever food with making the process of steaming a lot easier.
You can use the basic trivet to heat up the pastrami. Put the trivet in the pot first, and then add the water.
After that, you can place the pastrami on the top of the trivet and start the process of steaming. You can use aluminum foil as well. Make a bowl or pouch of the meat to rest inside for smooth working and cooking.
You shouldn’t use fully enclosed foil wrap, because you want inside steam. A wrap-up foil will help to keep the pastrami away from touching extra water which is present outside.
The water does drip from the Instant Pot lid to the foil. So, you should cover the top with plastic or aluminum foil. Holes in the foil wrap will allow steam to get inside the meat.
You should steam the pastrami in an Instant Pot for a maximum of about 40 mins. It depends upon the size of the Instant Pot and the number of pastrami you want to steam in an instant pot.
Other great reasons include, you can use the delay timer and can start the cooking automatically. The keep-warm feature in the instant pot is used to keep pastrami heated for serving.
How to heat up pastrami in an oven?
You might like a little crispier pastrami like the edges have a nice crust. Now eating the pastrami in an oven can achieve this taste or not, it depends upon how you are going to heat the pastrami in the oven.
How to heat up pastrami or how to reheat pastrami? The oven is an amazing way of heating the pastrami, especially when you have to heat a large number of sandwiches. Steam might take a longer period of time for heating pastrami.
A benefit of using an oven is, you can toast the bread at the same time. A whole pastrami sandwich can be cooked inside an oven.
you don’t have to cook the pastrami ingredients separately. The oven will not only heat the meat also it will cook the entire sandwich.
An oven is very simple to use, you don’t have to do much hassle to cook the pastrami in the oven. If you won’t be so careful then the meat will become too dry.
This fault can be easily avoided by baking the dishes for a shorter period of time.
Before starting the oven, preheat the oven to 250 – 300 degrees F. Use a baking sheet and place aluminum foil downside for safety measures. Place the slices of meat on the top of the aluminum foil. Bake meat for about 5 – 10 minutes.
When you are baking a whole sandwich with the meat already placed on bread. Place then sandwich on a baking sheet with the aluminum foil. Bake the sandwich at 200 degrees for 8 – 12 minutes.
How to heat up pastrami in pan?
How to heat up pastrami? The fastest way to heat up the pastrami is to fry them in a pan but you shouldn’t do it too fast.
The slow heat-up of pastrami works best. It is not necessarily important that you should heat and cooked the pastrami.
Like the oven mechanism, you can make a pastrami sandwich in a pan at the same time as making a grilled cheese. Put them together in a pan but put the sandwich first and then heat it up in a pan.
Use butter or olive oil to toast the bread. Always make sure that your meat is enough heat up before the bread becomes too done.
if you want to make a pastrami sandwich with cheese then baking is considered one of the best ways. In this process, the cheese will melt so well with the meat, and the bread will be toasted.
Use medium heat in a non-stick skillet while baking the sandwich. When you start baking them, first put butter or some olive oil in the pan. When oil is heated up then add the pastrami meat to the pan. Wait until the meat little bit starts to sizzle.
Add any cheese in it and then melt it for about 30 seconds to 1 minute. The sandwich is ready now serve meat on to bread. I prefer to add this in the step while cooking and then toast the bread.
This process is workable in a separate pan, toaster, or together with the meat in a sandwich.
How to heat up pastrami in a microwave oven?
How to heat up pastrami? The easiest and quickest way of heating the pastrami is just to microwave them. The microwave will help to keep the meat tender with good quality and not so thin pieces.
Thin slices of meat will heat up very quickly in the microwave oven.
In general practice, you should microwave the pastrami for a maximum of 1 – 2 minutes. This times limit works well for most delicious dishes and cuts of pastrami.
Before putting meat into the microwave oven, cover the meat first in a paper towel. Place the covered meat on a plate and microwave on low heat. First, let it heat for about 30 seconds and check how warm it is.
you might need to go for an additional 20 – 30 seconds depending upon the number of sizes of meat slices.
If you have to make a couple of sandwiches for yourself. Initially heat up just one sandwich. Then the second time you will have a good idea of just how long to heat a sandwich.
If you think that sandwich would dry up and they will become chewy. Dampen up the paper towel first from sandwiches. Simply microwave sandwiches for about 1 minute and check the heat level. You will have a clear idea of whether it starts steaming in the microwave.